Teens rob cabby, leave phone behind

The three youths had their scheme to rob a taxi driver all planned out. They would then flee.

However, things did not go according to plan when they carried out the act at about 1.50am on Feb 2, along Japanese Garden Road.

The coin pouch that the teenagers snatched contained only $5. Worse, one of them left his Apple iPhone in the vehicle. He subsequently went to the police to report that it had gone missing.

Yesterday, Muhammad Fauzi Fitri Kamaruzaman, 18, and Muhammad Aizan Abdullah, 17, were each sentenced to 24 months of probation after pleading guilty to robbing Abdul Latiff Ismail, 53.

The duo were also each ordered to perform 150 hours of community service. Their parents had to sign a $5,000 bond to ensure their good behaviour.

A pre-trial conference has been fixed on Monday for their alleged accomplice, Muhammad Istiqlal Hamdan, 18.

A community court had heard that the trio boarded Mr Abdul Latiff's taxi and told him to go to Lakeside MRT station, but later redirected him to the skate park near the Chinese Garden.

When the vehicle arrived at the skate park, Fauzi, who was seated directly behind the driver, grabbed his neck. Aizan punched him in the face three or four times while Istiqlal allegedly grabbed the coin pouch. But while fleeing the scene, Fauzi realised he had left his iPhone in the taxi.

Istiqlal allegedly suggested that he report the phone missing, presumably so he could claim he was not the one who had left it in the cab. Fauzi then went to a police station and said he had been assaulted and that his belongings were missing.

The trio were arrested later that day.

This article by The Straits Times was published in MyPaper, a free, bilingual newspaper published by Singapore Press Holdings.
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